Torpedo director



GR m4039595 July 9, 1946.

R. E. cRooKE CT H m e l c=PomT INTEPT t-YT x, PG

f BT R27 R y, Il R G2 *Dr B', rffv oobr 6 INvENToR mwndE.C1-007 zw, numana. l V l A 5mm@ N 1i c 5 July 9, 1946. R E, CROQKE '2,403,505

ToRPEDo DIRECTOR Filed May 15, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 TARGET SPEED LAT.

JNVENTOR'4 R mmraoke ,f2-fnl ATTORNEY July 9, 1946.

R. E. CROOKE .TORPEDO DIRECTOR Filed May 115, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Raymond E'. rooke ATTORNEY dtml pour Patented July 9, 1946 TCRPEDO DIRECTOR Raymond E. Crooke, Great Neck, N. Y., assignor to Ford Instrument Company, Inc., Long Island City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 15, 1941, Serial No. 393,565

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a torpedo director and more particularly to a torpedo director for determining the gyro angle setting for a torpedo to be discharged from a torpedo tube which is iixed with respect to the firing ship, so that the torpedo has to describe a, curved path until it has attained the direction of the straight path to the point of intercept with the target.

The principal object of this invention is to provide mechanism for computing the gyro angle for the torpedo including an offset or parallax angle to allow for the curved portion of the torpedos path.

Another object is to provide mechanism to determine and indicate the distance the torpedo will be required to run to reach the point of intercept with the target.

Another object is to provide mechanism, which, when set in accordance with known values representing the present relative positions of the target and ring ship and the rate and direction of movement of the target, will automatically indicate the gyro angle or direction of straight run of the torpedo and the distance the torpedo must run to reach the point of intercept with the target.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of this specication and the accompanying drawings.

The Various objects of the invention are at.

tained by mechanism which includes dials representing the relative position and direction of movement of the target and firing ship and hand cranks or automatic means for setting the dials including a sight which may be trained to be pointed at the target. A component solver is angularly set by the means for setting the dials so that the angular position of its vector member represents the direction of movement of the target relative to the present line of bearing between the observing sight and the target and the length is set to represent the speed of the target. The movement of the two component slides of the component solver represent the components of the target speed along and across the present bearing line from the firing ship to the target.

A pair of multipliers are provided wherein the component rates of movement of the target as determined by the component solver are multiplied by the time of run of the torpedo to give Voutput movements representing the component distances the target will move during the time of run, along and perpendicular to the set line of bearing to the target.

The component slides of a vector solver are 'set in accordance with the component of move-` ment of the target perpendicular to the line of bearing to the target, and in accordance with the present range to the target modified by the range component .of distance moved by the target during the time of run. The resulting angular position of the vector member of the vector solver therefore represents the angular offset of the point of intercept from the set line of bearing and the length of the vector represents the distance from the observing point to the point of intercept.

A pair of cam mechanisms, whose input members are positioned in accordance with the distance from the observing point to the point of intercept and the direction of the torpedo path or gyro angle relative to the torpedo tube, determine (1) a correction factor to be included in the determination of the gyro angle to allow for the offset due to the curved portion of the torpedo lpath, and (2) a correction to be applied to the distance from the observing point to the point of intercept to give a value which when divided by the torpedo speed will give the time of run of the torpedo.

A correction factor is also determined to modify the gyro angle to allow for the effect of the rotation of the earth on the gyroscope of the torpedo during the time of run.

The preferred form of mechanism for carrying out the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a geometrical sketch showing the relation of the factors involved in solving the problem;

Figs. 2 and 3 taken together are a diagrammatic representation of mechanism for solving the problem indicated in Fig- 1.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, the observing point or periscope of the firing ship is represented as o and the course of the firing ship relative to north (N) is represented as Co. 'I'he target is represented at b as proceeding on a course CT relative to north. The path of the torpedo is represented as a curve extending from o to the line ac into which it merges when the torpedo settles down on its steady course. The line ac is obtained by extending in a reverse direction the line representing the path of the torpedo after it has settled on its steady course, until it intersects the line representing the extended centerline of the ring ship or more specifically the centerline of the torpedo tube. The point of intercept or the advance position of the target, that is, where the torpedo hits the target is represented as c. The gyro angle of the torpedo and therefore the direction of the straight portion of the path of the torpedo with reference to the centerline of the firing ship is represented as G2. The relative bearing of the target from the periscope of the firing ship and measured from the centerline of the iiring ship is represented as Bs and the true bearing relative to north is represented as B. It will be seen that the relation of these angles may be expressed as B=Co+Bs (1) The target angle or track angle of the target is represented as BT which is the angle from the centerline of the target to the line of bearing to the ring ship as viewed from the target. It will be seen that this angle may be expressed as BT=(180+B) -CT (2) The present or observed range of the target from the ring ship is represented by R and the distance from the observing point o to the point of intercept c is represented as oc or RI. The actual run of the torpedo is represented as R2.

The line bc represents the travel of the target during the run of the torpedo and may be expressed as bc=t ST (3) inwhich t represents the time of run of the torpedo and ST represents the speed of the target.

The components of the travel of the target, line bc, taken along and perpendicular to the bearing line ob are represented as t-YT and t-XT respectively and may be expressed mathematically as The angle PG is a form of parallax angle required to convert the angle GI to the angle G2 to allow for the curvature of the path of a real torpedo discharged from a bow tube of th'e firing ship. This angle PG may be determined as afunction of the run of the torpedo R2 and the gyro angle G2 or of the distance RI and the angle GI. The value of the gyro angle G2 may be expressed as Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the observed relative bearing (BS) of the target is obtained from the sight or periscope I which is trained on the target by means of the crank 2 acting through the shaft 3 and worm 4 to turn the worm gear 5 on which the sight is mounted. The shaft 3 also drives a dial 6 by means of gears 1. The dial 6 represents the firing ship and when read against the iixed index 8 indicates the observed or present relative bearing of the target.

'I'h'e course of the firing ship is received by the receiver motor 9 which is actuated by a master compass transmitter (not shown). The receiver motor 9 actuates control contacts I0 for the servo or follow-up motor I I whichrdrives the shaft I2 and a response connection I3 to the receiver mo.

tor 9 in the well known manner so th'at the rotation of shaft I2 represents the course of the ring ship. The shaft I2 may be positioned by means of the hand crank I4 in case of failure or absence of the receiver motor 9 and servo motor Il. The hand crank I4 is connected to th'e shaft I2 by means of the coupling I5 when desired.

The shafts 3 and I2, the rotation of which represent relative bearing (BS) and firing ships course (Co), respectively, are connected to shaft I6 through diierential I'I. The rotation of shaft I6 represents the true bearing (B) of the target as will be seen from Equation l. The shaft I6 drives a ring dial I8 surrounding the firing ship dial 6 through gears I9 and a second ring dia1 20 through gears 2|. Th'e ring dial 20 surrounds a target dial 22. The ring dial I8 indicates'true bearing (B) of the target when read against the xed index 8 and course of the ring ship (CO) when read against the fbow of the ring ship image on the dial 6.

The ring dial 20 when read against the fixed index 23 indicates the complement of the true bearing (B) as indicated by the ring dial I8 read against the fixed index 8. The target dial 22 indicates target course (CT) when the bow of the target image is read against the ring dial 20 and target angle (BT) or track angle is obtained or set by reading the target dial 22 against the xed index 23. The target dial 22 is set relative to the ring dial 20 by means of a hand crank 24 and shaft 25 which actuate Shaft 26 through differential 21. The third member of diiferential 21 is connected to shaft I6,`th'e rotation of which represents true bearing (B). The rotation of the hand crank 24 and shaft 25 represent target course (CT). It will be seen from Equation 2 that the rotation or position of shaft 26 and dial 22 represent target angle (BT).

Shaft 26, the rotation of which represents target angle, also controls th'e angular position of the vector of a component solver 28 through gears 29 and vector gear 30. The length of the vector or radius to the pin 3| which is slidably mounted in a radial slot in the gear 30 is controlled by a spiraled cam in the gear 32 concentrically mounted to gear 30. The gear 32 is rotated relative to the gear 36 by a hand crank 33 and dial 34 the rotation of which represent target speed (ST). The dial 34 is rotated by a worm 35 mounted on shaft 36 to which is secured the hand crank 33. The shafts 26 and 36 are connected to gear 32 through a differential 3l, shaft 38 and gears 39.

The component slides 40 and 4I of the component solver 28 are located by the pin 3| to represent the component YT of the rate of movement of the target along the line of bearing ob and the component XT of the rate of movement of the target across or perpendicular to the line of bearing. It will be seen that the position of the slide 4U may be expressed by the equation and the position of the slide 4I may be expressed as XT=ST sin BT (9) The slide 40 has a rack 42 which meshes with a gear 43 to position a shaft 44 in accordance with the component YT and the slide 4I has a rack 45 which meshes with a gear 46 to position a shaft 41 in accordance with the cross component (XT) of the rate of movement or speed of the target (ST).

The shaft 44, the rotation of which represents the component YT, positions one input of a conricerca ttc@ titious torpedo.

ventional multiplier mechanism 48 and the shaft 41, the rotation of which represents the component XT, positions one input of a second conventional multiplier 49. The second input of both multipliers is positioned by shafting 58 the rotation of which represents the time of run (t) of the torpedo. The means for determining the time of run (t) and for rotating the shaft 58 in accordance therewith will be described later. The rack 5| on the output slide of the multiplier 48 positions a shaft 52 through gears 53 in accordance with the product (t-YT) of the inputs. See Equation 4. The rack 54 on the output slide of the multiplier 49 positions a shaft 55 through gear 56 in accordance with the product t-XT of the inputs. See Equation 5.

The present or observed range (R) is set into the mechanism by hand crank 51 and dial or counter 58 which are connected by shaft 59. The

connected to a diiferential 88 (see Fig. 2) whereit is combined with the position of shaft 3 which represents the relative bearing (BS). The output of differential 88 is connected to shafting 89, the rotation of which represents the angle GI as will be seen from Equation 6.

The time of run tl, for the fictitious torpedo to travel from the point o to the point of intercept c, is expressed by the equation R1 im@ (10) in which SG represents the normal speed of the torpedo. It is obvious that the timeof run (t) of the actual torpedo in traveling its longer path will be longer than the time tl and that the amount of this increased time is a function of the angle GI and the distance RI. The time of run (t) may therefore be expressed by the equation shafts 52 and 59 are connected to shaft 68 20 through differential 6| so that the rotation of 314.130 shaft 68 represents the present range modified t: SG (1l) by the component along the line of bearing of the movement of the target during the time of run of the torpedo. The value represented by the shaft 68 may be expressed as R-l-t- YT.

The values of the angle DT and the distance RI are obtained from a vector solver 62, the component slides 63 and 64 of which are positioned in accordance with the modified range represented by the rotation of shaft 68 and the cross component of movement of the target during the run of the torpedo represented by the rotation of shaft 55. The resulting vector angle represents the angle DT. and the length of the vector represents the distance oc or the run RI of the fic- The vector consists of a gear 65 having a radial slot in which a pin 66 is positioned at the intersection of slots in the component slides 63 and 64. While this unit is in effect a vector solver, for mechanical purposes it is actually shown in Fig, 3 as a component solver, that is, the pin 66 is located radially of the gear 85 by a servo-motor 61 and the gear 65 is rotated by a servo-motor 68. The pin 66 is moved by the motors 61 and 68 until the positions of the component slides 63 and 64 correspond to the values represented by the rotation of shafts 68 and 55 respectively.

The motors 61 and 68 are controlled by the control contacts 69 and 18 respectively. The control contacts 69 are actuated by a differential 1| interconnecting the shaft 68 and a shaft 12 which is rotated in accordance with the position of component slide 63 by gears 13 and a rack 14 on the slide 63. The control contacts 18 are actuated by a differential 15 interconnecting the shaft 55 and a shaft 16 which is rotated in accordance with the position of component slide 64 by gears 11 and arack 18 on the slide 64.

The motor 61 positions the pin 66 radially of the gear 65 by a, screw 19 threaded through a slide block 88 on which the pin 66 is mounted. The screw 19 is driven by gears 8|, shaft 82, differential 83, and shaft 84 which is connected to the motor 61. The motor 68 rotates the gear 65 through shafting B5 and gears 86. The shafting 85 also connects to one member of differential 83 which thereby acts as a compensating differential so that the rotation of the vector gear 65 does not alter the relative rotation of the screw 19 and the shaft |34.v The counter 81 driven by shaft 84 therefore represents the length of the vector or the distance RI. The shafting 85, the rotation of -which represents the angle DT, is

in which RC represents a correction which is a function of the angle GI and distance Rl.

The correction RC is computed by a cam mechanism 98 the inputs of which are the shaft 84 and shafting 89, the rotation of which represents the distance RI and the angle GI respectively. .The cam mechanism may be of any suitable form and for the purpose of illustration is shown as consisting of a three dimensional or barrel cam 9| which is rotated in accordance with the rotation of shafting 89 which represents the angle Gl.v The cam follower 92 is mounted on an arm 93 which is rotatably mounted on a threaded shaft 94 which is driven by shaft 84 so that the arm 93 and the cam follower 92 are moved along the cam 9| in accordance with the distance RI. The cam follower 92 is held against the cam 9| by the spring 95 and the resultant movement of the arm 93 is transmitted to the elongated pinion 96 by the sector 91 which is integral with the arm 93. The rotation of the elongated pinion 96 represents the correction RC;

The shaft 98 is driven by the elongated pinion 96 so that its rotation also represents the correction RC. The shaft 99 is driven by differential |88 in accordance with the rotations of shafts 84 and 98 which represent the distance RI and the correction RC respectively. Y

The shaft 58, previously referred to, is driven in accordance with the time of run (i), as expressed in Equation 1l, by the output of a dividing mechanism IUI, the inputs of which are driven by shaft 99 and a shaft |82 in accordance with the value of Rl-l-RC and the torpedo speed (SG) respectively. The shaft |82 is positioned by a hand crank |83 and a dial |84 which is driven by a worm |85.

The parallax angle (PG) is obtained from a cam mechanism |86 the inputs to which are the shafts 84 and 89 the rotations of which represent the distance RI and the angle GI respectively. The cam mechanism |86 is in all respects the same as cam mechanism 98 except that the cam is so shaped that the output drives shaft |01 in accordance with the angle PG. The rotation of shaft |81 combines in differential |88 with the rotation of shaft 89, which represents the angle GI, to rotate the shaft |89 in accordance with the gyro angle (G2) as may be seen from Equation 7.

It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the direction of the straight portion of travel of the real torpedo relative to the bearing line ob is equal to the sum of the angles DT and PG. Shaft I Ill (see Fig. 2) is rotated in accordance with this sum by the differential III which is connected to shafting 85 and shaft IIl'I, the rotations of which represent the angles DT and PG respectively. Shaft I I is connected to ring dial I I 2 surrounding target dial 22 and ring dial 20. The arrow II3 on the dial II2 when read relative to the bow of the target image on dial 22 indicates the angle of impact (AG) of the torpedo. The position of the arrow II3 relative to the xed index 23 represents the direction of the torpedo course relative to the bearing line ob which angle is equal to the sum of the angles DT and PG.

When the time of run is relatively long it is known that, except at the equator, the rotation of the earth has an appreciable effect on the direction of the spin axis of an azimuth gyroscope such as used to guide a torpedo. This effect is expressed by the equation t-sin L in which PL represents the correction in minutes of arc to be applied to the gyroscope, t is the time of run in seconds and L is the latitude at which the run occurs.

This correction for latitude as it is commonly called is computed by the multiplier I I4 the inputs of which are time of run (t) as represented by the rotation of shaft 50 and the sine of the latitude as represented by the rotation of a shaft I I5 which is set by a hand crank IIS and a dial II'I which is driven by Worm II8 on shaft H5. The dial l I'I is graduated in terms of latitude so spaced that the rotation of shaft I I5 represents the sine of the latitude set on the dial.

The output of the multiplier II4 rotates shaft II9 in accordance with the latitude correction as expressed in Equation l2. The latitude correction, represented by the rotation of shaft IIS, is combined with the uncorrected gyro angle (G2) represented by the rotation of shaft |09, in differential |20 to rotate shaft I 2l in accordance with the corrected gyro angle. The shaft I2I drives a dial |22 by means of a Worm I 23. The dial |22 is graduated in terms of gyro angle. A transmitter |24 is driven by shaft I2I to transmit the gyro angle to a receiver unit (not shown) at the torpedo discharge station for use in setting the gyroscope angle of the torpedo.

It will be understood of course that While one specific embodiment of the invention has been described, various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for use in determining the course to be given to torpedoes, comprising means for determining the direction of the line of sight to a moving target, a component solver including a vector element adjustable in accordance with the target speed and the target course relative to the line of sight, a component member representing the component of target course and speed at right angles to the line of sight and a second component member representing the component of target course and speed along the line of sight, multiplying means including an input element operable in accordance with the movement of the first mentioned componentl member, a second input element settable in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo, and an output 4member representingthe product of the val-f" ues represented by the position of the input elements, second multiplying means including an input element operable in accordance with the movement of the second component member, a second input element settable in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo, and an output member representing the product of the values represented by the position of the input elements, means settable in accordance with the present range to the target, and a vector solver including a component member settable in accordance With the output of the first mentioned multiplying means, a second component member settable in accordance with the combined movement of the output of the second multiplier and the range settable means and a vector member operably associated with said component members and adjusted thereby to determine the distance to the point of intercept of the torpedo and target and the direction of the course of the torpedo relative to the line of sight.

2. Apparatus for luse in determining the course to be given to torpedoes, comprising means for determining the direction of the line of sight to a moving target, a component solver including a vector element adjustable in accordance with the target speed and the target course relative to the line of sight, a component member representing the component of target course and speed at right angles to the line of sight and a second component member representing the component of target course and speed along the line of sight, multiplying means including an input element operable in accordance with the movement of the first mentioned component member, a second input element settable in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo, and an output mem- -ber representing the product of the values represented by the position of the input elements, second multiplying means including an input element operable in accordance with the movement of the second component member, a second input element settable in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo, and an output member representing the product of the values represented by the position of the input elements, means settable in accordance with the present range to the target, a vector solver including a component member settable in accordance with the output of the first mentioned multiplying means, a second component member settable in accordance with the combined movement of the output of the second multiplier and the range settable means and a vector member operably associated with said component members and adjusted thereby to determine the distance to the point of intercept of the torpedo and target and the direction of the course of the torpedo relative to the line of sight, means settable in accordance with the torpedo speed, and dividing means including an input element operable in accordance with the distance to the point of intercept as determined by the vector member, a second input element operable in accordance With the torpedo speed settable means and an output member representing the quotient of the values represented by the position of the input elements, said quotient representing the time of run of the torpedo.

3. Apparatus for use in determining the gyro angle relative to the centerline of a torpedo tube for discharging torpedoes having a course consisting of a curved section and a straight section, directing means for determining the direction of the line of sight to a moving target relative to the centerline of the tube, means for determining 'the enum/y @lieg teach tice component at right angles to the line of sight of the movement of the target during the time of run of the torpedo, means for determining the component along the line of sight of the movement of the target during the time of run of the torpedo, said component determining means including means adjustable in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo, means settable in accordance with the range to the target along the line of sight, a Vector solver including component members operable in accordance with the component determining means and the range settable means and a Vector member operably associated with said component members the direction and length of which represent the direction relative to the line of sight and the distance to the point of intercept of the torpedo and target, differential means for combining the directional position of the directing means and the directional position of the vector member to determine the direction of the point of intercept relative to the centerline of the tube, means settable by the differential means and in accordance with the length of the vector member for positioning an output member representative of a correction to the distance to the point of intercept, means for combining the positions of the output member and the length of the vector member, dividing means including an input element operable by the combining means, a second input element operable by a member settable in accordance with the torpedo speed and an output element positioned thereby in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo, means for adjusting the said time of run means in accordance with the position of the output element, means settable by the differential means and in accordance with the length of the vector member for displacing a part in accordance with the correctional angle to allow for the curved section of the torpedo path and second differential means for combining the output of the rst differential means and the displacement of the part to determine the direction of the straight section of the torpedo path relative to the centerline of the torpedo tube.

4. Apparatus for use in determining the gyro angle relative to the centerline of a torpedo tube for discharging torpedoes having a course consisting of a curved section and a straight section, directing means for determining the direction of the line of sight to a moving target relative to the centerline of the tube, means for determining the component at right angles to the line of sight 10 of the movement of the target during the time of run of the torpedo, means for determining the component along the line of sight of the movement of the target during the time of run of the torpedo, said component determining means including means adjustable in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo, means settable in accordance with the range to the target along the line of sight, a vector solver including component members operable in accordance with the component determining means and the range settable means and a vector member operably associated with said component members the direction and length of which represent the direction relative to the line of sight and the distance to the point of intercept of the torpedo and target, dii-ferential means for combining the directional position of the directing means and the directional position of the vector member to determine the direction of the point of intercept relative to the centerline of the tube, means settable by he differential means and in accordance with the length of the vector member for positioning an output member representative of a correction to the distance to the point of intercept, means for combining the positions of the output member and the length of the vector member, dividing means including an input element operable by the combining means, a second input element operable by a member settable in accordance with the torpedo speed and an output element positioned thereby in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo, means for adjusting the said time of run means in accordance with the position of the output element, means settable by the diierential means and in accordance with the length of the vector member for displacing a part in accordance with the correctional angle to allow for the curved section of the torpedo path, second dierential means for combining the output of the first differential means and the displacement of the part to determine the direction of the straight section of the torpedo path relative to the centerline of the torpedo tube, multiplying means settable in accordance with the time of run of the torpedo and the sine of the latitude for positioning an output member in accordance with a correctional factor to correct for the effect of rotation of the earth upon ythe path of the torpedo and means for modifying the determined direction of the straight section of the torpedo path in accordance with the position of said output member.

RAYMOND E. CROOKE. 

